[JoeandCarrie]

So I am going to be in the ABQ area for a week with my daughter, and would like to go driftwood hunting with her. Are there any good spots to go? I will have my Aussie with me, and a not to athletic 14yr old... so no 6000 ft elevation gains if possible.

Any thoughts?

thanks,
-Joe

 

[AguaTropical]

Hello!

I was born and raised in and around ABQ. Honestly, you'll have the best luck either searching the bosque, or head east on interstate 40 into the east mountains (worth the trip IMHO).

If you do go east on I40, stay on the interstate for about 20-30 minutes and take the Cedar Crest/Tijeras exit, then head north on highway 14 until you pass a shell gas station on the right. From there you can either hang a left and go up the crest road to search for pieces (lots of places to pull of the road and lots of trails to go hiking). You can also continue on North 14, and pass East Mountain High School, which will be on the left (where I went to HS) and there will be a lot of different pieces just a short distance off and around the road. Please do note that the east mountains are at about 7500ft though, while ABQ is closer to 5000ft above sea level.

I'm not as familiar with the bosque, but anything you find would most likely have been carried by the river, so there are possible contamination issues you may face.

NM has a plethora of cholla wood, which looks beautiful in tanks! GL with your search!

I hope to see pics if you find anything!

 

[AguaTropical]

You can also head north of ABQ on Interstate 25 to Bernalillo, but I do not know how much you'll find there.

 

[JoeandCarrie]

Fantastic! Thanks for the advice. We are coming from WY, so a couple thousand is no problem, its the several thousand difference that would kill us.

Will head east and search the mountains then. Will I be mostly seeing cholla? What other native woods should I watch for? Manzanita maybe?

Thanks again,

 

[AguaTropical]

Fantastic! Thanks for the advice. We are coming from WY, so a couple thousand is no problem, its the several thousand difference that would kill us.

Will head east and search the mountains then. Will I be mostly seeing cholla? What other native woods should I watch for? Manzanita maybe?

Thanks again,

There should be a handful of pieces of manzanita!

Also, another place in the mountains you might want to check out is an acequia that resides behind the San Antonio Church off of Highway 14 (on the left while on your way to the shell gas station I mentioned). It's specifically called the Acequia madre de San Antonio (google will help you find it). It's a beautiful area, and there should be a lot of pieces around there! It's closer to ABQ than the places I mentioned earlier as well.

Just keep in mind, the wood you find will be very dry most likely. So in other words it may take 2+ weeks before it will sink, and there are usually a lot of tannins. Regardless, you shouldn't have an issue finding some beautiful pieces.

If you need any restaurant, or activity suggestions, don't hesitate to PM me!

 

[AguaTropical]

Also, I just thought of this...some areas will probably be closed due to fire danger (mostly areas up the crest road). Hopefully this won't limit your search too much!

 

[JoeandCarrie]

Awesome, will hit that area up too then. No worries on dry wood, my dsm will be delayed anyway for my daughters visit. So two or three weeks soaking no big deal. Might pm you if we run out of things to do. Gonna hike a lot and hit the aquarium, zoo, and botanical gardens up for sure.

Thanks again,

Joe

 

[JoeandCarrie]

Well bummer. All park areas and open acess areas closed due to fire risk.

Did walk 2 trails though for the petroglyphs and volcano areas. Of course the blm guy didnt mention "no collection" until afterwards... so no pictures of rocks... although some beautiful lava rock was procured accidentally. Love how snippy people get about not knowing state rules. Oh well.

Thanks for th3 tips, enjoyed walking the old town and hitting the biopark up, the sun was high tho so we did more swimming than walking.

-joe

 

[AguaTropical]

So you weren't any to grab any DW pieces? That's a bummer.

Where in WY are you? I'm taking a trip to NM, and I can look on my property in NM for you, and bring anything I find to CO. I live in Fort Collins, so if you're in southern WY, we are pretty close

 

[JoeandCarrie]

Im in cheyenne. Yeah was bummed. Was hoping to find some manzanita for free vs the rediculus prices on websites. If u happen across some I would drive to foco for it for sure at a decent price.

Just shoot me a pm

Joe